Brendan Daly (politician)

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| office = Minister for Social Welfare

| taoiseach = Charles Haughey

| term_start = 13 November 1991

| term_end = 11 February 1992

| predecessor = Michael Woods

| successor = Charlie McCreevy

| office1 = Minister for Defence

| taoiseach1 = Charles Haughey

| term_start1 = 5 February

| term_end1 = 14 November 1991

| predecessor1 = Charles Haughey (acting)

| successor1 = Vincent Brady

| office2 = Minister for the Marine

| taoiseach2 = Charles Haughey

| term_start2 = 10 March 1987

| term_end2 = 12 July 1989

| predecessor2 = Paddy O'Toole

| successor2 = John Wilson

| office3 = Minister for Fisheries and Forestry

| taoiseach3 = Charles Haughey

| term_start3 = 9 March

| term_end3 = 14 December 1982

| predecessor3 = Paddy O'Toole

| successor3 = Tom Fitzpatrick

| office4 = Minister of State

| suboffice4 = Foreign Affairs

| subterm4 = 1992–1993

| suboffice5 = Finance

| subterm5 = 1989–1991

| suboffice6 = Taoiseach

| subterm6 = 1989–1991

| suboffice7 = Labour

| subterm7 = 1980–1981

| office8 = Senator

| term_start8 = 12 September 2002

| term_end8 = 13 September 2007

| constituency8 = Labour Panel

| term_start9 = 17 February 1993

| term_end9 = 6 June 1997

| constituency9 = Agricultural Panel

| term_start10 = 3 December 1992

| term_end10 = 17 February 1993

| constituency10 = Nominated by the Taoiseach

| office11 = Teachta Dála

| term_start11 = June 1997

| term_end11 = May 2002

| term_start12 = February 1973

| term_end12 = November 1992

| constituency12 = Clare

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|2|2|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cooraclare, County Clare, Ireland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|7|6|1940|2|2|df=y}}

| death_place = County Clare, Ireland

| nationality = Irish

| party = Fianna Fáil

| spouse = {{Marriage|Patricia Carmody|1970|2014|end=her death}}

| children = 3

| education =

}}

Brendan Daly (2 February 1940 – 6 July 2023) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a long-serving Teachta Dála (TD) for the Clare constituency, a government minister, and Senator.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Brendan-Daly.D.1973-03-14/|title=Brendan Daly|publisher=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=22 November 2012|archive-date=7 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107010440/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Brendan-Daly.D.1973-03-14|url-status=live}}

Life and career

Daly was born on 2 February 1940 in Cooraclare, County Clare, and educated locally at CBS Kilrush school.{{Cite news|date=8 July 2023 |first1=Deaglán |last1=de Bréadún |title=Obituary: Brendan Daly, experienced former Fianna Fáil cabinet minister and poll-topping TD |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/obituary-brendan-daly-experienced-former-fianna-fail-cabinet-minister-and-poll-topping-td/a519433373.html |access-date=13 July 2023 |newspaper=Irish Independent |language=en}} His political career began at the 1973 general election, when he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Clare. When Daly ran in the next general election in 1977, Limerick-based journalist Arthur Quinlan described him in the Irish Times as “a 37-year-old bundle of energy who has concentrated all his efforts on making his career out of politics”. Quinlan was sceptical that Daly would top the poll, but in the end he did so, getting elected on the first count. His first-preference total of 11,933 was more than double the figure of 5,758 he got in 1973 although he said: “I worked for every single vote I got"{{Cite web |date=2023-07-09 |title=Obituary: Brendan Daly, experienced former Fianna Fáil cabinet minister and poll-topping TD |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/obituary-brendan-daly-experienced-former-fianna-fail-cabinet-minister-and-poll-topping-td/a519433373.html |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Irish Independent |language=en}} He held his seat at five further general elections before losing it at the 1992 general election. He was returned at the 1997 general election but was defeated again in the 2002 general election.{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2990|title=Brendan Daly|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=22 November 2012|archive-date=16 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016170539/http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?id=2990|url-status=live}}

Daly was a strong supporter of Charles Haughey during his period as Fianna Fáil leader.{{Cite web|last1=Halloran|first1=Cathy|date=6 July 2023|title=Former Fianna Fáil TD and minister Brendan Daly dies|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2023/0706/1393182-brendan-daly-dies/|access-date=13 July 2023|website=RTÉ News}} In 1980 Daly became Minister of State at the Department of Labour. In 1982 he joined the Cabinet as Minister for Fisheries and Forestry. When Fianna Fáil returned to power after the 1987 general election he once again became a minister, this time as Minister for the Marine in the 20th Government of Ireland.

Daly was not re-appointed a minister when Fianna Fáil entered into coalition with the Progressive Democrats after the 1989 general election, but was appointed Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with responsibility for Heritage Affairs and Minister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for the Office of Public Works.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1989-07-20/2/|title=Appointment of Ministers of State. – Dáil Éireann (26th Dáil) – Vol. 391 No. 7|date=20 July 1989|access-date=15 July 2020|website=Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=13 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913125919/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1989-07-20/2/|url-status=live}} He returned to the cabinet in February 1991 as Minister for Defence. In November Albert Reynolds and Pádraig Flynn were sacked from the government and Daly was appointed Minister for Social Welfare. His time in cabinet was short-lived; in February 1992, Haughey resigned as Taoiseach and was succeeded by Reynolds, who did not appoint Daly to cabinet. He was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from February 1992.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1992-02-13/3/|title=Members of Government and Ministers of State: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (26th Dáil) – Vol. 415 No. 7|date=13 February 1992|access-date=18 January 2020|website=Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116163602/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1992-02-13/3/|url-status=live}}

Daly lost his Dáil seat in the election that year, retaining his position as Minister of State until the formation of a new government in January 1993. He contested the Seanad election on the Agricultural Panel, and was returned to the 20th Seanad.

Daly was re-elected to the Dáil at the 1997 general election but lost his seat at the 2002 general election. He stood for election to the 22nd Seanad on the Labour Panel, and was returned to the Seanad for a second time. He was unsuccessful again at 2007 general election, and did not contest the subsequent elections to the 23rd Seanad. He then retired from public life.{{Cite news|first1=Sarah|last1=Burns|date=6 July 2023|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/oireachtas/2023/07/06/former-fianna-fail-td-and-minister-brendan-daly-dies/|title=Former Fianna Fáil TD and minister Brendan Daly dies|newspaper=The Irish Times}}

Brendan Daly was married to Patricia Carmody of Kilrush, County Clare, from the early 1970s until her death in 2014; they had three children. Daly died on 6 July 2023, aged 83.{{cite news|url = https://www.clarelive.ie/news/home/1242139/sadness-following-passing-of-former-clare-td-and-minister.html|title=Sadness following passing of former Clare TD and minister|last=Gough|first=Ellen|date=6 July 2023|access-date=6 July 2023|newspaper=Clare Live}}

In the Dáil, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin paid tribute to Daly as “an extraordinarily committed public servant” who had served in several departments.{{Cite news |last=de Bréadún |first=Deaglán |date=9 July 2023 |title=Obituary: Brendan Daly, experienced former Fianna Fáil cabinet minister and poll-topping TD |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/obituary-brendan-daly-experienced-former-fianna-fail-cabinet-minister-and-poll-topping-td/a519433373.html |access-date=4 February 2025 |website=Irish Independent |language=en}}